Competitive
intelligence within an organization serves as a catalyst in the decision-making
process. It is part of the value chain that takes data elements, converts
these to actionable information, and results in strategic decisions. The
keys to the successful utilization of competitive intelligence are analysis
of data and synthesis of information. However, before analysis and synthesis
can take place, there must be a reliable font of information.

In this article
we propose to examine various types of information required for the CI
activity, as well as reliable sources to monitor. The CI searcher must
continuously monitor, evaluate, and analyze many data components in order
to maintain a comprehensive competitive intelligence program within an
organization. Besides looking at data types, we will examine how new Web-based
technology has revolutionized the gathering, storage, and dissemination
of information.

Competitive intelligence
must be a pervasive and ongoing activity. It is the responsibility of all
employees. However, in order to best capitalize on the gleanings of CI,
a core group should bear the mandate of ensuring progress in the company’s
CI program. This core group charts the course by:

ascertaining senior
management’s needs and directions

searching and researching

harnessing internal
strengths and capabilities

collecting and analyzing
data

making recommendations

Competitive intelligence
activity must be legal. This tenet transcends all others. A Watergate type
of activity is not competitive intelligence. It is theft and, as such,
liable to prosecution. An industrial theft is a serious offence. The corporation,
its directors, and the individual responsible for the felony may be jointly
and
severally liable to indictment.

Equally important
we must respect intellectual property, copyright, and licensing contracts.

Information should
come from reliable sources and be verified and validated as to its veracity.

Table
1 on the next page identifies four major groupings for competitive
intelligence activity:

Business Scanning
of the Environment. This macro approach to information-gathering includes
market and industry information and evaluation.

Competitor Intelligence
Target. Complementing the macro approach utilized in Business Scanning,
this approach focuses its monitoring on one or more specific companies.
A competitor’s performance, market share, intellectual property assets
must be examined. Here we apply SWOT analysis to discover a competitor’s
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

The information yielded
from the above two might be quite disparate. We must synthesize it and
merge it with personal experience, collective expertise, knowledge garnered
through contacts, and collaboration from that ever useful invisible college.

Finally the value
of the above aggregate must be weighed and measured against the stated
objectives of the corporation. This requires forecast based on analysis.
At this stage, we can turn informed decisions into implemented actions.

The ultimate objective
of good competitive intelligence work is the formulation of sound, fact-based,
rational decisions for action. All companies, small or large, need to have
some form of competitive intelligence activity. As previously stated a
core group acts as the CI steering committee. Actionable decisions result
when the intuition and background knowledge of team members couples with
the computational efficiency of information technology. The librarian/information
specialist is an integral member of the team, with primary domain over
gathering, evaluating, and disseminating information.

Before we look
at some tools that can help accomplish these objectives, we should plan
the overall strategy:

First, you chart your
roadmap. Build your roadmap around the results of a CI requirements assessment.
This type of assessment identifies needs, ranks them, and suggests possible
targets and solutions. Such a document is never immutable, but you will
need it to clarify the mandate of the competitive intelligence group.

Second, identify a
clear objective. A scattershot approach is usually ineffectual.

Once you have identified
your objective, define the action profile, i.e., summarize the actions
to be taken.

The lengthiest segment
of this process is the research and information-gathering.

Finally you will analyze
the data yielded for relevance, impact, and future decision.

Important Sources

Company employees.
These people possess a wealth of data from previous employment, dealings
with competitors, and colleagues in other companies and allied industries,
etc.

Suppliers.
Companies who supply goods and services to your company may be very proud
to advertise what they do for other organizations.

Clients. Customer
satisfaction is the goal, therefore attend to their recommendations and
evaluate them as a catalyst for innovation and improvement.

Competitors.
Obviously the intent of CI is to monitor and interpret their every move.

Senior Management.
Those people, who have invested into the existence of the CI activity,
appreciate its potential and expect some valuable ROI (return on investment).
They also operate at a level where they become privy to information that
can prove invaluable when factored into the analysis equation. While it
is expected that they will ask the right questions and provide information
willingly, this cannot be assumed. Therefore you should elicit information
from them.

Using TCP/IP TechnologyUsing an intranet
as a tool in Competitive Intelligence is an excellent means for recording
information and for sharing it within the organization. Web technology
is an integrating technology. It permits the seamless merge of internal
information such as database content, full-text reports, memos, meeting
action items, etc., with the large volume of knowledge now available on
the Internet.

Here are some examples
where this enabling technology can prove invaluable.

Business
Scanning of the Environment
No company operates
in isolation. The external environment is extremely important. You must
gather knowledge about the industry, products in development, and prevailing
market conditions. Market research is an ongoing activity. Where applicable,
demographics must be studied.

Here are recommended
sites (with a slight Canadian bias):

Statistical
Profile of Canadian Communities
http://ww2.statcan.ca/english/profil/Based in 1996
census tracts, this source presents a statistical profile of all Canadian
communities (cities, towns, villages, Indian reserves and settlements,
etc.). It highlights information on education, income and work, families
and dwellings, as well as general population information. A mapping feature
locates the community within Canada.

Best Statistical
Sources
http://www.uncle-sam.com/best_stat.htmlPerhaps Uncle
Sam’s greatest asset is its compilation of statistical information on literally
every subject under the sun, from jobs and careers to health and nutrition
to census demographics. Here are the essential sites for accessing U.S.
government statistics.

High-Tech IndustriesIf the company
belongs to a high technology industry, then you must analyze the evolution
of the technology. You will seek forecasts predicting the future of the
particular technology. Regulatory environments are extremely important.
Are there environmental laws to be respected, or does trade in this particular
product contravene certain national laws? A good example is the U.S. International
Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Trade in certain electronic components,
used for space-based applications, contravenes these regulations. When
international trade is a consideration, you must learn about domestic and
foreign laws. In addition, the impact of supranational regulatory bodies
such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) or World Trade
Organization (WTO) comes into play.

Guide to
International Trade Law Sources on the Internet
http://www.llrx.com/features/trade.htmSuperior pathfinder
to sources for international trade, compiled by M. Hoffman at Georgetown
University. Organized in sections: Starting Points, International Agreements,
International Organizations, U.S. Government Resources, Doing Business
In, Statistics. See also the UPDATE to these resources.

International
Trade Data System
http://www.itds.treas.gov/ITDS/Frames/Build_Frames.cfm?Site=ITRCExcellent resource
presenting information and links on importing, exporting, country profiles,
industry profiles, and general trade data. This U.S. government site was
developed to improve trade procedures, promotion, policy development, and
statistics as a benefit to both the public and the government.

International
Business Resources on the WWW
http://ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htmThe Michigan State
University Center for International Business Education and Research provides
this site, which contains a wealth of information, including news and periodicals,
U.S. and international; journals, research papers, and articles; regional
or country-specific information; statistical data and information resources;
government resources, international trade information; and trade leads;
company directories and yellow pages; international trade shows and business
events; mailing lists; culture and travel; various utilities; and other
indexes of business resources.

Market ModelingA market model
provides insight into these three main areas by organizing intelligence
into:

An industry overview,
which requires scanning of the environment

An industry structure
analysis, which focuses on target analysis

An industry overview
answers these questions:

What are the size
and segments of the market?

Who are the major
customers and competitors?

What are the key market
issues?

What will be the key
trends in the market?

What are the impacts
of regulatory and political issues or changes?

What will be the size,
composition, and capacity of the market?

An industry structure
analysis answers these questions:

What are the size
and segments of the market?

Who are the major
customers and competitors?

What are the key market
issues?

What will be the key
trends in the market?

What are the impacts
of regulatory and political issues or changes?

What will be the size,
composition, and capacity of the market?

An industry structure
analysis answers these questions:

Which companies are
market leaders?

Which companies challenge
our market position?

What are their goals
and objectives?

How do they plan their
strategies?

Who are the movers
and shakers? This requires management profiles (key individuals, decision-making
processes).

How is the marketplace
evolving? Who owns what? What are the recent and planned mergers, acquisitions,
divestitures?

Are there any alliance
patterns taking shape? Alliances may be vertical, horizontal, pay-to-play,
joint ventures, etc.

What are the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOTS)?

What are actual production
levels, backlogs, valuations of operations?

What is the market
share?

To summarize, market
modeling must be an on-going effort that focuses on three areas:

Where is the market
positioned today?

What are the market
trends for the future?

What strategic positions
can be developed and exploited?

For effective market
modeling you need access to key sites on the Web. When pertinent information
is not protected by copyright, you can download it to the local intranet,
but always link to the site of origin. This both validates the data and
promotes further research.

Using an intranet
can help both in the data collection phase of CI and in the effective diffusion
of data sets to staff. Publishing the data to the intranet, or, when copyright
is an issue, linking URLs to the data sites, ensures the availability of
the same information to multiple users. Through an intranet, the CI group
can have information to both internal and external sources and serve these
up within a seamlessly integrated environment

Managing the Web ConnectionsInternet sources
must be subject to quality-control criteria. Is the information from a
reliable source? Is it current? How accurate is it? Even reliable sources
can inadvertently post misleading data. If possible, try to cross-check
multiple sources in order to validate data.

URLs for an intranet
can be managed and posted in several ways:

Static page

Static page generated
from a database

Search interface to
the database

The static page is
a compilation of URLs. When there is no access to a database, this is technologically
the simplest type to compile and mount. It requires only a basic knowledge
of HTML. The downside is that URLs change and thus the data becomes rapidly
outdated. Constant monitoring and revision is required, making this option
a labor-intensive activity.

The static page
generated by a database is actually a page of topical headers and subheaders.
Each of these links to a predefined query residing in the database. For
example a page containing the headers — Suppliers, Clients, Competitors.
Clicking a selected header would generate a list of URLs corresponding
to the respective header.

An intranet Web
page that requires little maintenance simply presents a search interface
to the database that houses the collected data. This page will have a window
for query data along with some suggested keywords and search tips.

The most comprehensive
treatment of competitive intelligence and market research will combine
all the above options into a multi-page CI Web site.

Collaborative Brainstorming
— Internal ResourcesMuch information
relevant to CI already exists within any organization. It may be stored
in private offices, filing cabinets, or most importantly within the heads
of employees. To extract it, however, requires a resource-sharing climate.
Staff members need persuasion to post trip reports, lessons learned, contact
information, business shortcuts, negotiation tips, etc. Colleagues need
encouragement to share contacts and all those wonderful benefits derived
from that nebulous network known as the "invisible college." New software
permits the mounting of databases to contain the information. Company intranets
form a technical platform for the circulation of information. More importantly,
one can build databases using the intranet for distributed data entry.

From the database
built, one can generate a daily summary, or at some other predetermined
frequency, predicated on the date of entry field, for presentation to senior
management. The summary should address the five Ws of intelligence — What,
Where, When, Why, and by Whom — all viewed in the context of the impact
on the organization. Should senior management require more in-depth information,
then detailed data, including appended full-text documents residing in
the database, can easily be retrieved.

Collaborative brainstorming
becomes easier that ever with the installation of conferencing software.
One such very popular software is O'Reilly's WebBoard. This software permits
the creation of numerous conference boards, and within each board, multiple
conferences. Conference can be designated as private, allowing only those
named in the conference group to read or post. This enables project teams,
department personnel, capture teams, etc., to exchange information integral
to brainstorming, scenario definition, and critically, a plan of action.

Every company develops
a set of policies, procedures, and sundry business process documents containing
the rules by which a company is governed. Additionally the P&Ps, as
they are commonly referred to, may contain published guidelines that position
and mandate the activities of the CI team.

External Feeds, Newsletters,
and ReportsWhere licensing
permits, one should post news from outside resources on the intranet for
general access. Arrangements with information providers such as LEXIS-NEXIS,
Factiva/Dow Jones, NewsEdge, etc., will have to include a site license,
which can get expensive. If your management deems it ill-advised to apprise
employees of monitoring targets, then you may want to negotiate limited-use
licenses with the vendors. Any feed should reside on a restricted site
protected by active security measures. Often pricing for a limited feed
is far less than for full-site access.

You may restrict
access to the news feed to a given number of individuals as per contract
agreement. If you do not access the source internally, users may have remote
access to the vendor's site. Generally validation for access is via IP
address. Here logon is automatic, as the vendor's software detects the
IP of the incoming request. Some vendors require the names of staff individuals
accessing their sites. If this is the case, access is generally via personal
password. Another way to measure access for licensing purposes is through
the number of concurrent or simultaneous users, as opposed to the total
number allowed access. Again cost varies proportionally to usage specified
in the contracted agreement.

Luce Online
http://www.luceonline.comLuce is a traditional
clipping service that has an online clipping service called CyberClipping
Internet News Monitoring Service.

In addition to
news feeds, market research reports purchased from companies such as Frost
and Sullivan, Pyramid Research, Gartner Group, etc., are now available
in electronic format. Many of these companies supply HTML or PDF versions
ready for posting on an intranet. One usually pays a premium for electronic
diffusion of these documents. Each case must be evaluated on an individual
basis. Also look for equally important reports from the public sector.
Government bodies generate much material of CI value. Generally these are
not copyrighted and may be redistributed freely.

Most CI groups
generate a regular newsletter or executive summary for management. Posting
the publication on an intranet can deliver well-formatted data simultaneously
without congesting valuable bandwidth space, as would be the case with
e-mailing copies of the document to long lists of readers. One can still
use e-mail to alert users to click on the report.

Security of course
is an issue. Within the organization, certain data must be protected, due
both to licensing and to content sensitivity. Numerous schemes can be implemented,
ranging from firewalls to secure servers, restricted permissions on the
network, password protected pages, etc. The CI group must involve the Information
Technology Department in order to design the best architecture for the
requirement.

Competitor Intelligence TargetTracking competitors
via the Internet isn't difficult. The problem is too much information.
We may all gorge on information, but we all starve for knowledge. Therefore,
a systematic, ordered approach is the most effective method. The following
sites provide excellent overviews on how to approach monitoring a target
company.

Researching
a Company
http://www.bondra.com/comptraining.htmGood introduction
and checklist for searching company information from Bondra Information
Service. In addition to the introduction, it has an extensive list of resources
organized by topic and sections with Useful Links for Business Research,
Reasons Companies Should Use Research and Competitive Intelligence Information,
and Researching an Industry.

Corporate
Information
http://www.corporateinformation.comContains a list
of other sites that offer information about companies, organized by country.
"One of the best, if not the best, meta site for finding information on
private companies, as well as for international firms," according to Bob
Berkman, from The Information Advisor.

For tracking a
limited number of competitors, I recommend a page of live links to key
resources. Live links are in essence "canned queries" on databases, e.g.,
clicking a header marked "SEC Edgar" would generate a list of all SEC filings
for a specific company. In the same way live links can be generated to
wire services, analyst reports, and stock quotes, as well as electronic
filings for SEC or SEDAR.

How is a live link
generated? Simply. A search is done on the targeted company using Company
Name or Stock Symbol (the latter is preferable if available). This will
produce a URL containing the query. Copy the URL into the HTML code of
the intranet Web page and treat it as a link. For example, the following
code will generate a link to CNNfn.com where xxxx is the stock symbol and
Company is the name of the target:

<a href="http://qs.cnnfn.com/tq/stockquote?symbols=xxxx">Company</a>

This link will
also include access to the following for the same company:
Charts | company
snapshot | intraday chart | trading overview | broker center | Wall St.
research | analysis | competitors | financials | full report | sec filings

Monitoring the Competitor's
Web SiteCompetitor's Web
sites offer a wealth of information — news of new products, organization
charts, list of clients, links to subsidiaries, legacy of contracts, regulatory
compliance, etc. The depth and quality of information varies. If one keeps
close tabs on a competitor or partner, a number of Internet resources can
work to report changes in Web sites.

The Informant:
Personal Search Agent on the Internet
http://informant.dartmouth.eduThis free service
will save your favorite search engine queries and Web sites, check them
periodically, and send you e-mail whenever new or updated Web pages are
found.

JavElink
http://www.javelink.comJavElink is a
complete page change monitoring service. The account is free for up to
20 pages. JavElink finds changes daily and remembers the page history,
too.

Karnak
http://www.karnak.comKarnak offers
On-Going Offline Web Research. Your search query results are updated and
stored on their server. There are e-mail updates. Basic service is free,
with fee options for premium services. Registration is required.

TracerLock
http://peacefire.org/tracerlock/TracerLock can
monitor search engines for you and notify you by e-mail when a new instance
of a search term is found.

Company Sleuth
http://www.companysleuth.comRegistration is
required to have up to 10 companies monitored. Information is gathered
from SEC filings, new patents, stock quotes, analystsÕ ratings,
press releases, business news, etc.

Annual ReportsBusiness libraries
have traditionally collected paper copies of annual reports. Many corporate
Web sites now post their annual reports. In addition, the following sites
can help locate annual reports:

Barron's
Annual Report Service
http://www.icbinc.com/cgi-bin/barrons.plThis is a free
service. You can obtain the annual reports of any of the companies listed.
To place the order now, select the companies, and complete the shipping
information. Reports will be sent the next working day, subject to availability.
You can also order by telephone at 1-800-965-2929 or by faxing to 1-800-747-9384.
Open 24 hours, including weekends.

Investor
Communications Business
http://www.icbinc.com/index.htmlAnnual Reports
mailed FREE anywhere in the world. Financial information available for
over 3,500 U.S., Canadian, and U.K. companies. Annual reports service from
The
Wall Street Journal, Barron's Financial Times (U.K.)
Globe
and Mail, Financial Times (Int'l), and The Wall Street Journal
(Europe).

IRIN — The
Investor Relations Information Network
http://www.irin.comOnline annual
reports and shareholder information plus company links and annual report
requests for public companies in the U.S.

SEDAR
http://www.sedar.comSEDAR, the System
for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval, is the electronic filing
system for disclosure documents, such as annual reports, of public companies
and mutual funds across Canada.

EDGAR Database
of Corporate Information
http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htmThe U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission Web site. The SEC is an independent, nonpartisan,
quasi-judicial regulatory agency with responsibility for administering
the federal securities laws.

Australian
Securities and Investments Commission
http://www.asc.gov.au/page-204.htmlThis is the company
search page for ASIC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission,
the down under equivalent to SEC.

CAROL/Company
Annual Reports Online
http://www.carol.co.ukCAROL is an annual
report site providing direct links to over 3,000 corporate reports in a
single and consistent format, from the U.K., Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
It also links to corporations' annual report Web sites.

Patent SearchesMost patents are
now available in electronic format, whether through government departments
such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual
Property Office, or through commercial services such as MicroPatent. The
text of the patent documents is not protected by copyright. Therefore one
can compile a very useful database of competitor patents with full-text
retrieval. Full-text documents may be viewed online regardless of their
native format.

Patents identify
a competitor's expertise, its technological know-how, as well as the key
players in R&D, and technology targets. As it is costly to obtain a
patent, the existence of patents is an indicator of a given company's priorities,
what it considers important enough to protect.

Canadian
Patents Database
http://Patents1.ic.gc.ca/intro-e.htmlThe Canadian Intellectual
Property Office produces this database of issued patents and applications
for patents made available to the public from October 1, 1989, to the present.
This database updates monthly. In the future, CIPO plans to add patent
abstracts, as well as providing data prior to October 1989.

U.S. Patent
& Trademark Office. Patent Database
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/This page is the
starting point for the USPTO's free patent databases. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (PTO) now offers Web access to separate bibliographic
and full-text patent databases. These databases cover the period from 1
January 1976 to the most recent weekly issue date (usually each Tuesday).
U.S. Patent Classification data in the Full-Text Database (Issued US Classification
[CLAS]) corresponds to classification data that appears on the printed
patent and may not match current classification data. U.S. Patent Classification
data in the Bibliographic Database (Current US Classification [CCL]) has
been updated to reflect the most current Master Classification File (1
February 2000) and may not match the classification data appearing on the
printed patent.

esp@cenet
Patent Information Service at the United Kingdom Patent Office
http://dips.patent.gov.ukThe esp@cenet
patent information service at the United Kingdom Patent Office lets users
search in U.K. patents, patents from other European countries, European
(EP) patents, PCT (WO) patents, worldwide and Japanese patents.

IBM Patent
Server Home Page
http://patent.womplex.ibm.comThe above sites
offer insight into the different facets of a competitor's activities. For
each company monitored, you must customize the research design with a systematic
structure. No one approach fits all. Variations depend upon the industry
monitored, the availability of information for that industry, and more
specifically for the individual company. Most importantly, you must deal
with the time and financial constraints imposed on the CI group. More funding
and more staffing generally result in a richer yield of data.

AnalysisAs software evolves,
we look toward the arrival of intelligent agents to collect data, manage
it into actionable information, analyze the information based on predetermined
criteria, and offer solutions for implementation. In today's real world,
however, we still require human intervention to negotiate all the steps
outlined in the CI roadmap.

At the analysis
stage we can use electronic spreadsheets to create IF-THEN scenarios and
apply mathematical formulae that will compute financial investment and
possible rewards. Based on research we can establish what we do know, the
absolutes, the variables, the unknowns. Based on a set of criteria, we
can set a range of risk.

An established
business maxim warns about the need for two approaches — doing things right,
efficiency, and doing the right things, effectiveness. Both of these apply
to competitive intelligence. There are never any guarantees and all actions
entail risk. At best we hope that Competitive Intelligence activity provides
management with educated guesses and likely scenarios.